28 réponses à ce sujet

[TheMadHarridan]

I just finished my current playthrough of DAO with my HNF S&S Reaver/Berserker Warrior. I'm about to start DAA, but I'm thinking ahead about my upcoming GoA playthrough. I still need to beat the Harvester on Hard mode, as that is the last trophy I need (you only have to defeat the Harvester on Hard, right? I can play the rest of GoA on Normal?).

I tried once before with a DW Rogue, which was a dismal failure. I need some tips. What third specialization should I get in DAA for my S&S Warrior? Any special armor/weapons that help? What stats are ideal? Useful salves or poisons?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really want to beat this ugly critter and get my final trophy. Grim Reaper... appropriate name, isn't it?

[themikefest]

I've done it as an arcane warrior here's a few videos that may help

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=L-MGi2OEBgM playing as a rogue

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=uTzeKJktfWs playing as a warrior

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=cxsqzNKJK8o playing as a mage

 

Here's a thread that will help as well

[Magdalena11]

I just finished my current playthrough of DAO with my HNF S&S Reaver/Berserker Warrior. I'm about to start DAA, but I'm thinking ahead about my upcoming GoA playthrough. I still need to beat the Harvester on Hard mode, as that is the last trophy I need (you only have to defeat the Harvester on Hard, right? I can play the rest of GoA on Normal?).

I tried once before with a DW Rogue, which was a dismal failure. I need some tips. What third specialization should I get in DAA for my S&S Warrior? Any special armor/weapons that help? What stats are ideal? Useful salves or poisons?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really want to beat this ugly critter and get my final trophy. Grim Reaper... appropriate name, isn't it?

I still have that one to go as well.  A word of caution:  I'm not sure if switching to hard just for the last fight will allow you to get the achievement.  My varterral on hard or nightmare achievement didn't register when I tried that.  It was only when I played the whole Awakenings on hard that I got the achievement.  It might have been tied to entering the dragonbone wastes on normal and switching right before the fight as I applied shock coatings and other preparatory stuff, though.  It is good practice to get used to beefed-up enemy resistances and scaled down friendly advantages first in any case.

 

I'm also looking forward to seeing advice on how to squash that bug, so bring it on.

[TheMadHarridan]

I still have that one to go as well.  A word of caution:  I'm not sure if switching to hard just for the last fight will allow you to get the achievement.  My varterral on hard or nightmare achievement didn't register when I tried that.  It was only when I played the whole Awakenings on hard that I got the achievement.  It might have been tied to entering the dragonbone wastes on normal and switching right before the fight as I applied shock coatings and other preparatory stuff, though.

 

Ugh. I hope that's not the case, as I don't want to play that entire DLC on Hard. It's a pain on Normal, in my opinion. I was able to get the achievement/trophy for killing the Varterral on Hard in Witch Hunt by switching the difficulty just before the battle (right before I entered the Varterral's area), so hopefully that will be the same case with the Harvester.

 

@themikefest: Thanks for the video links. I will definitely check them out. I have looked at the thread you mentioned, but it mostly focused on how to beat the Harvester as an Arcane Warrior or a Rogue, which doesn't really help me, as I'm playing a S&S Warrior.

[themikefest]

To beat the Vaterral on hard I just switched the difficulty to nightmare/hard before the area to fight the thing and got the trophy. I did this on a ps3, so I don't know if that makes a difference on the pc and xbox. The fight wasn't as hard as I believed it would be.

[Elhanan]

I beat the Harvester on NM with all three classes, but for the 2H build; not S&S. I simply recall that kiting was involved far too much for my tastes with everyone.

Perhaps this page will be of help: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Harvester_(strategy)

[TheMadHarridan]

To beat the Vaterral on hard I just switched the difficulty to nightmare/hard before the area to fight the thing and got the trophy. I did this on a ps3, so I don't know if that makes a difference on the pc and xbox. The fight wasn't as hard as I believed it would be.

 

I did the same with the Varterral both on the PS3 and the PC and got the trophy on both platforms. Hopefully the Harvester will be the same. Otherwise, I might cry a little. 

 

@Elhanan: Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

[DarthGizka]

The only things you need by way of preparation are respec tomes for the two dwarven sidekicks and big stacks of potions.

 

As regards strategy, the most important fact is that the minions summoned by the Harvester get more and more dangerous with each successive generation, to the point where they can shred pretty much anyone in only one or two attack rounds. That is, unless you have extremely high levels of dodge, like 100% or so. Defence and armour are mostly useless against 100 armour penetration, 100 bonus damage and 300+ attack. See the picture of three generations of ranked minions in another Harvester thread.

 

This means you have to take down the golem form of the Harvester as fast as possible. Once you have managed that you have basically won. The natural deepstalkery tail-swisher form is even more harmless than the flesh golem form and it cannot parachute in new troops at will, it has to build them one by one in a time-consuming process that it rarely survives. Even if you weren't able dispatch the last wave of minions with a flip of the switch, at least you can kill them and they stay dead instead of getting replaced in the blink of an eye.

 

Put the heat on the Harvester and keep it up, and let his minions chase after the bronto. Timing the last switch flip to coincide with the demise of the Harvester's flesh golem form can make things go much more smoothly but it isn't necessary.

[themikefest]

I did the same with the Varterral both on the PS3 and the PC and got the trophy on both platforms. Hopefully the Harvester will be the same. Otherwise, I might cry a little. 

 

Just before facing the harvester, I switched to nightmare mode and still got the trophy when the harvester was defeated.

[Raging_Pulse]

^Good advice, all above. Also:

 

-Make sure you pick up Carapce and Bulwark of the Ages talents which make you completely immune to damage for 10s (or was it 20s?).

 

-Pick up Spirit Warrior spec; the first talent -Beyond the Veil- gives you innate 50% dodge chance. Then bump that % up even more via gear and evasion runes.

 

-Harvester has two AoE splash attacks that deal massive nature damage so make sure you bring Greater Nature Salves.

[Elhanan]

^Good advice, all above. Also:
 
-Make sure you pick up Carapce and Bulwark of the Ages talents which make you completely immune to damage for 10s (or was it 20s?).
 
-Pick up Spirit Warrior spec; the first talent -Beyond the Veil- gives you innate 50% dodge chance. Then bump that % up even more via gear and evasion runes.
 
-Harvester has two AoE splash attacks that deal massive nature damage so make sure you bring Greater Nature Salves.

Survival Skill should also help a bit with the latter attacks.

[DarthGizka]

The Harvester telegraphs the splash attacks (Vile Disembowelment etc.) well in advance, meaning there's ample time to move everyone out of the way. This means that nature resistance is an issue mostly for fighters who work at close range and who prefer to keep slashing/hacking rather than lose time evading the splash attacks.

 

I find it very satisfying to make the Harvester throw the goo at its own feet, thus hurting itself and its entourage but noone else. Kiting the Harvester around the stone thingies - coning/blasting it through the stone, splashing fireballs around the corner and doing all kinds of mischief with glyphs - would be a lot more fun if the beast didn't summon so many godlike minions... A post-origin mage quickly runs into trouble with enemy physical/mental resistance but a post-Awakening one should have enough spellpower to eliminate physical/mental resistance chance (leaving only spell resistance to mar the fun).

 

Distance seems to be important. If you get too far away from the Harvester then it may well turn its attention to one of your companions, thus derailing your battle order and necessitating a burst of micro management to get everything under control again. When that happens, the Harvester often stands and ponders things for a moment. If you see it musing the state of affairs then you still have a chance to grab its attention back again.

 

Of course, you could avoid all the hassle of dealing with the minions by pulling a Blazo, shredding the Harvester so fast that it doesn't have time to summon multiple generations of minions...

 

I lowered the difficulty to Hard upon entering the Forge but the key point is probably the little cutscene where you see the little tail-swisher turn itself into a flesh golem, after which all your troops are stuck inside each other like so many matrjoshkas... It is advisable to enter the Forge in a red phase, by the way, for collecting all goodies before the final battle.

[Elhanan]

Cannot recall all the things that were done for each playthrough, but I do recall that simply forgetting about the Dwarven followers might make it a bit easier; maybe even Holding them to a single location for some time until they needed to defend themselves.

[TheMadHarridan]

I did it! Last night I beat that nasty little bugger (aka The Harvester) on Hard mode and got my final trophy for DAO on the PS3. *stares proudly at 100% completion* Of course, I've still got to do it on the PC version, but hopefully now that I've done it once, I'll be able to do it again.

 

I beat him with a Level 35 S&S Reaver/Berserker/Spirit Warrior. I thought I was done for when everyone in my party but my Warden went down before the Harvester left his first form. But I slogged on, determined to beat the critter. My warrior had almost 900 health, so I was pretty sure I could do it. I think I only downed three health poultices the entire battle; however, I was constantly swallowing stamina potions. "Beyond the Veil" sucks down stamina like mad, and I had to keep that going. I wish "Second Wind" had a shorter cool-down time.

 

I would use "Carapace," smack the Harvester until "Carapace" went away, and then I ran away from the Harvester and his band of skeletal minions until "Carapace" was ready to go again, throwing bombs at the Harvester whenever I got the chance. Eventually, he died, the trophy popped, and I squealed like a little girl. It was awesome. 

[Sifr]

Congrats!

 

I finally managed it myself today using a squishy Spirit Healing Caster mage, only losing Brogan three quarters though the second form... causing me to facepalm when I realised at that moment I foolishly hadn't respecced my mage to have Revival.

 

Still, feels good to have that danged achievement, it's eluded my reach for far too long!

[GatherYourParty]

I am playing through the series on Nightmare without pausing. Is it even possible to defeat the Harvester this way? I have tried for days and my hands are hurting.

[Elhanan]

I am playing through the series on Nightmare without pausing. Is it even possible to defeat the Harvester this way? I have tried for days and my hands are hurting.

Personally, I have no interest to do so, as DAO is a tactical RPG with non-reactive combat; would be a little like playing XCOM without Pause. And I use Pause as frequently as the Tab key to highlight items.

That said, I also had to cease play for awhile during my initial campaign due to sore hands.

[GatherYourParty]

It's just that it makes the challenge so much harder! It basically forces you to plan your tactics setups well in advance of the boss fights, and then time your real time tactics extremely well. The only pause happens when I go into inventory to select some item that's not on the quickbar. I've got through everything so far except the harvester.

[Elhanan]

It's just that it makes the challenge so much harder! It basically forces you to plan your tactics setups well in advance of the boss fights, and then time your real time tactics extremely well. The only pause happens when I go into inventory to select some item that's not on the quickbar. I've got through everything so far except the harvester.

For me, the Harvester encounter was about Kiting for almost an hour, and surviving thru the phases. That level of repetition is not recommended without a break/ pause, IMO.

[GatherYourParty]

Ok. Twice now I've managed to kill the flesh golem, but there are too many skeletons left each time and I go down to them. But still no pausing. Back to work.

[Ferretinabun]

Ok. Twice now I've managed to kill the flesh golem, but there are too many skeletons left each time and I go down to them. But still no pausing. Back to work.

 

Here's a tip - try to flip the switch IMMEDIATELY before you enter the second phase. I know it's tough to judge, but it will help you out with those pesky skellies no end. 

[GatherYourParty]

Problem is, the times I've got to the second stage I've been galloping Snug around with a comet tail of skellies when what's left of the party finally takes down the flesh golem, and without pausing there's no way to keep track of when that's about to happen. It's basically an insane amount of real time micromanagement, and I don't even have good twitch skills. Last time I paused at that point, but everyone left was so low on health that they went down in seconds as soon as I unpaused. I'm considering starting over at the end of Awakening to make sure I carry over the best gear, maybe that'll help.

[Ferretinabun]

Well if you do, don't forget the respec tomes so that you can rebuild those awful dwarf companions into something halfway decent (and don't forget that Archer has become arguably the strongest build at this point of the game, with Accuracy and a shedload of Dex).

[GatherYourParty]

This means I have to fight both the Amaranthine battle and the Mother all over again. That  last one was almost as bad as the Harvester when not pausing. Ugh.

[Elhanan]

I hardly ever both with the Followers; nice to have them as long as they do last, but allow them to drop and save any consumables for later seems to work. If playing a mage, Force Field will allow for a decent breather, esp if certain buff spells care able to penetrate the shell.